Friday, March 12, 2004

WSJ.com - Oracle Reports Earnings Gain of 11%

WSJ.com - Oracle Reports Earnings Gain of 11% "Mr. Henley said the applications business was profitable, but that profit margins aren't as high as in Oracle's database business, where Oracle holds dominant market share and commands premium prices. Oracle doesn't break out profit margins on its individual product lines.
Oracle's cash and short-term investments remained steady at about $8 billion. Mr. Ellison rejected the idea of paying a shareholder dividend, saying the company needed the cash to pursue its acquisition strategy.
"I'm not saying we're going to be the software equivalent of General Electric, but we're looking to do a lot of acquisitions in the future," he said. "PeopleSoft was the first, and we hope to be successful there, but we have others that we're looking at."